This bill would provide a tax credit of $500 per hearing aid purchased for dependent children. The tax credit would also be available for adults over age 55.

The Better Hearing Institute includes a link to write your congressional leaders in support of this tax credit. My letter will include a request that they add tax credits for younger adults. Hearing aids should be made affordable at any age. Young adults should not be left out of this benefit until they turn 55.

AG Bell's advocacy page also listed a call to action issued by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association:Urge Congress to Include Pediatric Hearing Benefit in Health Care ReformThis week, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) issued a call to action to help ensure that a comprehensive pediatric hearing benefit is preserved in the U.S. House of Representatives version of health care reform and included in the Senate version. Currently, the House's health care reform package (H.R. 3200) provides coverage of infant and child hearing services, equipment and supplies for children up to 21 years of age. However, the Senate has yet to name the same level of pediatric hearing services in its version of health care reform.

Write your congressman because no parent should have to struggle to pay for their child's hearing aids!

Of course they should be totally free. How can hearing-impaired children and adults have the same opportunities if they cannot afford hearing aids?? I hope this tax credit comes through. Good luck! :o)

That's the real bite in the tush with disabilities, isn't it? Like it's not enough challenge getting around and getting things done in a world designed for people who can do something you can't, it's also more expensive to live in it too!